


Stepping Stones

by Rachaelizame



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Canonical Character Death, Force-Sensitive Han Solo, Gen, The Force, for like a minute - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-09
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-23 01:18:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9634094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachaelizame/pseuds/Rachaelizame
Summary: Han Solo awakes after his death to find himself seven years old and in his childhood home. That's only the beginning of a long nightmare.





	1. Chapter 1

_ Ben… I’m sorry I failed you  _ was Han’s last thought as he felt Ben’s hand pushing him away. He felt himself falling but the world was already going dark.

He gasped, sitting up in bed suddenly. He frowned. He knew that couldn’t have been a dream. It was too realistic. And anyway, he’d never dream of Ben killing him. He’d never thought Ben would go that far

He frowned. Moreover, this wasn’t his room on the Falcon, or the new ship, the last two places he might have fallen asleep. This wasn’t a ship at all, in fact. He could tell the subtle differences between artificial and real gravity after all this time.

It was familiar though. Which was strange, because it was a children’s room. That was evident from the glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and the toys scattered about. A woman came into the room and suddenly Han remembered. This was his childhood bedroom- from when his parents were still alive. And that- that was his mother.

-

He couldn’t seem to help the tears that were running down his face.

“Han?” His mother asked. “What’s wrong honey?” He jumped out of bed and ran to her, realizing only after he reached her that he was child sized again. Huh. That seemed… weird. Wouldn’t he be an adult in this… afterlife, he guessed, like he had been when he died? Well whatever, that wasn’t the point right now. His mom was here.

“Mom, I- it was so scary,” That was weird. He meant to say something totally different. Was this place controlling what he said?

“Shh, honey, it’s okay now.” He nodded. He supposed it was. He didn’t know what this place was like, but surely the problems of his life were beyond him now.

“Where is dad?” Again. He meant to say everyone. There were a lot of people he’d seen pass that he’d be open to seeing again.

“He’s in the kitchen. Why don’t you tell me about your dream?” Mom asked.

“My dream?” Han asked. Shouldn’t she know it wasn’t a dream? He was getting a bad feeling about this.

“Yes, the one that scared you so much,”

“I- it’s not important.” He said, and pressed in closer to her. If this was what he thought it was…

-

When she left him alone to get dressed, he muttered under his breath for “whoever knows about what kind of Force shit this might be” to show up. A few moments later a man appeared before him, glowing blue.

“Alright, what’s going on here?” The man hummed in thought.

“Now this is strange. The Force rarely does things like this.”

“Like what?”

“Oh come now, young one, surely you know.

“I ain’t young,”

“Well, you had better get used to people thinking you are. You can hardly go around telling people the truth.”

“Fine. So I’m back in my child body, presumably back in time. What for?”

“The Force only does this rarely, and only when it feels there’s something important to correct. Judging from what I can glean from your head, it has something to do with the Skywalker family.”

“Great. Let me guess, I’m here to stop Vader from happening. If my math is right, he’s not Vader yet.”

“Perhaps, though I’ll admit, I’m not quite certain what you’re here for. It could be anything.”

“Why would the Force send me back this far if that’s not it?” Han asked.

“Because that is what it always does, regardless of when the events that need to be changed happened.”

“Why did it change what I said before?”

“Oh it does that even more rarely. It must not have wanted you to say anything then. Apparently this is to be a secret.”

“Han, are you talking to yourself?”

“Just thinking, Mom,” he called back. When he turned to face the man again, he was gone.

-

Breakfast was weird. It was weird in that it was completely normal- or at least Han assumed it was normal. He wasn’t exactly sure what normal was anymore. But it felt the same as those early mornings with Leia and Ben before everything went wrong.

He felt a pang of pain shoot through him at the thought, and another when he realized that was all gone now. Sure he’d been expecting it all to end, but he hadn’t expected to feel that loss.

“Han, what’s the matter, buddy?” His dad asked.

“My- I had a bad dream,” He muttered.

“Must have been some dream,” his dad said, exchanging a significant look with his mom.

“What was it about, darling?” His mother asked. Han tried for scared kid and found it wasn’t too far away.

“I- you and Dad- the Jedi- you all died!”

“Huh. Us and the Jedi huh?” Han nodded empathically.

“That’s a funny thing to dream about, kid. Why would we be associated with the Jedi?” Han rolled his eyes, feeling like a little kid.

“You know why.”

“Well we haven’t associated with the Jedi in years, and even then we barely talked with them.”

“Whatever. It was just a stupid dream anyway,” Han said.

“Of course, honey. Just a dream.”

-

After breakfast, Han saw his parents go into Dad’s office and make a video call.

-

Han went to school which was- really weird and very boring. He hated the idea of doing this all over again, but then, he supposed, if he didn’t manage to change anything, then he’d only be doing it until he was ten when Mom and Dad-

He brushed the thought away. He wouldn’t let that happen again. He couldn’t.

But what could he do to stop it? He couldn’t fight back, any more than he could when he was actually ten. Another reason to support stopping the twin’s dad from turning evil. But what about the twins themselves? It may be horribly selfish, but he wasn’t willing to risk Luke and Leia not being born.

From Luke’s conversations with his Dad’s force ghost, Anakin didn’t turn until partway through the pregnancy. So it was definitely possible for Han to just not interfere until then. Yeah, when would he ever meet the players in that particular game anyway?

He walked through the door of his house to find two strangers in the living room. Two strangers who looked vaguely familiar.

“Hello, you must be Han.” The older one said. “My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi and this is Anakin Skywalker.”

_ Oh kriff. _


	2. Chapter 2

Great. Just great. When Han had told his parents about his “dream” this morning, he’d been hoping just to plant the idea in their heads, maybe make them think it had been a Force dream- a little kid accidentally seeing into the future. He hadn’t expected them to contact the Jedi, and especially not for these two to show up!

He pasted a cautiously curious look on his face and spoke.

“That’s me. Han Solo.” Obi-Wan smiled at him and gestured for him to sit on the couch across from him.

“Your mom and dad went to the kitchen for a minute,” Anakin said. Han tried not to scowl at him.

“I thought we could talk for a while, Han,” Obi-Wan said.

“Yeah, sure,” Han replied.

“Do you know why we’re here?” Obi-Wan asked.

“No.” Han lied. “You’re Jedi right? Mom and dad ‘don’t associate’ with the Jedi.” He found his tongue stumbling over the ‘associate’ which annoyed him, but he supposed made his charade believable.

“How did you know that?” Obi-Wan asked, a leading question if Han ever heard one. He ignored it.

“The robes?” He said, in a voice that proclaimed it should be obvious. Obi-Wan frowned and looked closer to him.

“You’re shielding your mind. Why?” Anakin asked before Obi-Wan could say anything. Han nearly cursed. It had become habit to shield himself after everything that had gone done at the end of the Republic-Separtist war. Even years with Luke and Leia hadn’t convinced him to let down his shields all the time. Though weirdly, his shields weren’t as strong as they used to be. Must be another side effect of the time travel.

“I dunno. Mom and Dad said to do it. So I do it.”

“Well, I’m certain they didn’t mean for you to do it all the time. It can be nice to be shielded from the world sometimes, but you should allow yourself to feel the Force as well.” Obi-Wan said.

Han just shrugged.

“Now, what have your parents told you about the Force?” At that moment, Han’s mom and dad- Celes and Marcus- came back into the room. Celes spoke first.

“I’m Force sensitive, but the Jedi never found me as a child. I learned a few tricks on my own, just basic stuff like floating things and shielding. I met Marcus here when I was twenty two and realized he was Force sensitive as well, but only just enough to be lucky.”

“And eventually, you had Han,” Obi-Wan said.

“Yes.” Marcus took up the story. “We knew he’d be at least a little Force sensitive, though we weren’t sure how strong it would be- it looks like he’s pretty much average now though.”

“I have to ask. Why didn’t you inform the Council when he was born?” Anakin asked.

“We don’t report to them. And, though we greatly respect what you do, we don’t agree with large parts of your Code. And we wanted Han here with us.” Celes said. Han remembered she had always been remarkable charming, having an ability to get away with doing and saying things that might otherwise come across as rude.

“Well, the Jedi certainly don’t seek to come across as controlling, Ms. Solo.” Obi-Wan said.

“Yes, the Council is merely stuck in its ways,” Anakin added. Obi-Wan flashed him a glare, though Han could tell it was fond. He, on the other hand, was disturbed. There were signs already that he wasn’t happy with the Jedi?

Celes and Marcus laughed politely, though Han could tell they privately agreed with Anakin’s assessment.

“Well, when Han was old enough we taught him what little we knew- and I stress that it is very little.” Celes continued.

“We kept an eye out for other things though. Things like dreams.” Marcus said.

“Dreams?” Han made sure to interject, as if confused.

“Yeah, buddy. See, when Jedi concentrate, they can sometimes see things from the past or the future. Sometimes, especially in kids like you, they come out as dreams.”

“And since you can use the Force as well, you may have done this before.” Obi-Wan said. “Has anything you dreamed ever come true?”

“Yeah, little things sometimes.” Han said truthfully. “Not like my dream last night!”

“I’m afraid your dream may not have been such.” Obi-Wan said. “I need to find out. Can I ask you some questions?” Han was relieved when he said that. He’d been afraid Obi-Wan would try and get in his head, and then what was he supposed to do? He supposed maybe going into someone’s head was considered rude, though.

“I guess so.”

“Now, first, what did it look like?”

“Really real, but a little blurry at the edges,” Han replied. Everyone looked relieved.

“Good. That means if it’s real, it’s not set in stone. Now, how much of the dream do you remember?”

“Like, all of it! Not the details though,” he added hastily, in case the questions got too probing. Man it was hard sounding like a little kid, though he thought the Force was helping him along. Sometimes the things he said sounded a bit too prepared.

“Do you usually remember your dreams that well?”

And so on and so forth. After several questions, Obi-Wan and Anakin went to talk with Celes and Marcus in the next room. Han frowned, wanting to know what they were saying before remembering something. Hadn’t the stairs next to the doorway been a great place to eavesdrop? He walked over and found that he remembered correctly. He was well hidden but he could hear clearly.

“... seems to be a true vision. You did well to call in to us. Perhaps now we can do something about it.” Obi-Wan was saying.

“But Master, how? He knew so little about the man who does this. He barely knew it was a man at all!”

“Anakin, we will figure it out. Who knows when it is going to happen after all? It could be a long way off.”

“Alright. I suppose we can make some inquiries, keep a better eye on everyone.”

“Mr. and Ms. Solo, is there a way I can take your son on a short trip? It will be very brief, three days at the most. I think the Council is more like to accept this story if we bring him along.”

“I- I suppose. But one of us is coming too.” Celes said.

“Certainly. I understand you want to stay near your child.” Obi-Wan said.

“Are you leaving now?” Marcus asked. “Is there a way we can stay in touch with you? When you’re gone? Or in case this happens again?”

“Yes, of course. Here’s a link to my private comm channel,” Obi-Wan said. Marcus took it and headed for the door. Han heard his footsteps and darted back toward the couch.

Marcus gave him a knowing look, but said nothing. Han realized they might all know, if they were paying attention.

“So, you know we’re going on a trip,” Anakin said. Han looked up at him, confused. “You’re good at shielding, but not that good.”

“Yeah. You’re taking me somewhere?” There was a note of intrigue in Han’s voice. He wondered if the current Jedi society was anything like what Luke had set up.

He felt a pang again. He didn’t think he’d ever get over the pain of his lost life.

“You and Han go,” Celes said. Marcus looked at her briefly.

“I can’t leave work for that long. Besides it’ll be nice for you two to have a trip together. Father-son bonding!”

“Alright. If you’re sure.”

“Absolutely!” Celes said, and pressed a kiss to Marcus’s cheek.

“We should probably get going soon.” Obi-Wan said.

“Right, guess that’s my cue to go pack,” Marcus said. “Come on, kid. Let’s go get ready.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the short chapter, but I'm already working on the next one. In which Ani tells his "friend" how worried he is about this child's dream...

Han mostly tried to avoid Obi-Wan and Anakin on the trip. Therefore he ended up spending a lot of time with his dad. Which was great, but weird. Despite his appearance, he wasn’t a kid anymore, hadn’t been for a long time, and he didn’t need to be treated like one.

But then, at the same time, this was his dad, who he hadn’t seen in decades. If being around him meant being asked to play with toys, he’d do it.

Marcus could tell the dream had disturbed Han. He was acting so different now, and he only hoped it passed soon. Maybe visiting Coruscant would help. Han had always loved going new places.

Marcus was intimidated by the idea of going before the Jedi Council, though he tried to hide it. They were a powerful group of people, and he and Celes had openly defied them by hiding Han. But he hadn’t been willing to just hand his son over to a bunch of strangers.

He noticed Han was only half-heartedly playing with his toys, and sat down across from him.

“Thinking pretty hard, huh?” Han looked up in surprise.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I bet that dream of yours was pretty hard to watch.” Han’s eyes took on a tone Marcus couldn’t identify.

“It was so long… It felt like forever! And everything was so bad!” Marcus pulled Han in for a hug. Han stiffened at first, but shortly relaxed into the gesture.

Neither of them noticed as Anakin came into the room, his eyes softening at the sight before him. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

“We’re going to land very soon. You should get ready.” Han and Marcus got up quickly and moved to gather their things.

Anakin left the room, thinking wistfully.

-

It was strange to be around so many Force sensitive people, Han thought. He was pretty sure he’d never even met this many of them in his life, and it was a little overwhelming. He could tell they were all curious, not just because of the looks they were getting, but because he could feel it in the air.

He stood with Marcus near the doorway while Obi-Wan and Anakin addressed the Council from the center of the room.

“I was sent to determine the validity of the boy’s claims, and from what I can tell, the boy has genuinely seen a possible future. Further, on examining his room, I could sense that something unusual in the Force happened there on the night in question.” Obi-Wan said.

“We’ve brought him in as you asked so that any lingering doubts can be dispelled,” Anakin added.

“Forward, come.” A small green being Han remembered as being introduced as Yoda said to him. He walked into the center obligingly.

“Tell us about the dream,” A man, Mace? Han thought.

“I went to bed last night like normal.” Han began. “I had a nightmare. Or I thought it was a nightmare at first. It seemed really realistic though, like I was really there. More realistic than usual. Oh, but it was kind of blurry at the edges, so I knew I was dreaming.”

Han went on to describe the events of the “dream,” starting with the Massacre at the Temple and ending with the order to kill all Force sensitives. He tried to stay within the realm of what he knew had happened, hoping they wouldn’t see through his lie. Since he was only lying about how he knew these things, hopefully he could keep it hidden.

“About this man, tell us,” Yoda said when Han was done.

“What man? The shadow man or the fighter?”

“Both.”

“I don’t know much about them. The shadow man was hidden in the dark all the time. And the fighter… he was blurry. He had dark hair, I think, and he was tall. But I couldn’t see him very well.” Yoda hummed at his response, seeming displeased. Han knew he couldn’t tell them more about Anakin, as that could ruin his life. If his life was changed that drastically, would Luke and Leia ever be born?

“I remember his lightsaber though. It was blue.” Han could tell they weren’t expecting that from the feeling that rushed through the room. It was a calm, restrained surprise, but surprise nonetheless.

“Thank you, Han. You may go now,” Mace said. Han nodded and went back over to his dad. Both of them, along with Anakin were shooed out of the room. Han could see that annoyed Anakin, but he mostly felt worried that they would disregard his warning. How else would he be able to stop anything? It’s not like he would be spending a lot of time with Anakin after this.

They sat in the room outside the Council chambers for a long time. Eventually, they all grew bored of waiting, and Anakin pulled a round knick knack off the table beside him.

“Hey, Han, let’s play catch.” Han raised his eyebrows at the suggestion.

“With that?” He said. It wasn’t exactly a great ball.

“Yeah. But not regular catch. Force catch.” Han wrinkled his nose. He’d never been especially interested in using the Force, not after all the trouble it had brought him, but how could he turn Anakin down, when he was supposed to be a bored kid with none of his baggage. Not easily, that’s for sure.

“Alright.” He shrugged. “But if it breaks, I’m not going to take the fall for it.”

“It won’t fall. Even if you drop it, I can catch it.” Han stood up and dropped his shields. He almost gasped at the influx of feeling from all the Force users around him.

“Yeah, I should have warned you. You never want to totally drop your shields around here. There’s too much going on. It’s even worse in the Temple proper. Here copy me.” Han tuned in to what Anakin was doing, and figured out how he was managing to keep his shields up but with a bit of interference to the world around them. He tried his best to copy it, and soon felt as if someone had turned the volume down on the Force. He could still feel it, but it was less overwhelming.

“Ready?” Anakin said, and tossed the knick knack gently. Han focused on it, trying to stop its movement, but only managing to slow it as it fell.

“I’ve never done this before,” he offered in explanation.

“Yeah, stopping something is a lot harder than moving it,” Anakin agreed. He pulled the ball back toward him and tried again. It took a few tries, but eventually Han managed to stop the ball fairly reliably.

They played for a few more minutes before the doors opened. Anakin quickly flew the knick knack back to it’s original place and both hopped back in their seats.

Obi-Wan left the room, and turned to them.

“They have more yet to discuss, but they agree with my assessment. They’re currently discussing measures to ensure this doesn’t happen.” He said. Han wasn’t sure what to make of that. On the one hand, hopefully that would ensure Anakin never turned. On the other, he didn’t know what was meant by these measures. It might end up backfiring on all of them.

He just hoped this whole mess would work itself out better than it had the first time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one, but I needed to establish some things and this felt a good place to end. Chapters may be sporadic after this. My mom hid my computer.

Anakin wasn’t coming back with them, but since they’d flown here with Obi-Wan he offered to take them back so that they didn’t have to get a transport. 

“He must like you. He never offers to fly.” Anakin had said. Marcus had chuckled.

“He still isn’t. I’m flying back.”

Han didn’t like leaving Anakin alone without the obviously calming presence of Obi-Wan, but what choice did he have? It’s not like he could tell them the truth.

So he got on the ship, and agreed with enthusiasm to his dad’s offer of copiloting. The trip back was uneventful, mostly spent hanging out in the cockpit talking to dad. Until something went wrong, because of course it did.

There was a minor malfunction in the ship. Obi-Wan said he could handle it, though Marcus stuck around to help with some of the heavy lifting required to get at the mechanics.

Afterwards, they headed home. When they arrived, Celes was at the door to greet them. She hugged Han before reaching up and embracing Marcus, muttering in his ear.

“Someone’s been following me.”

Before Marcus could respond, her statement was proven true as a man with a blaster stepped up behind them. Marcus shoved Han through the doorway and spun around, blocking it as well as he could.

“Celes, run! Get to the ship!” Celes immediately picked Han up and ran for the largest window in the house. She was still fumbling with the latch when she heard blaster fire and a thump. She held back a sob and pulled the window open, shoving Han out.

“Run, baby!” Han hesitated, but when he saw Celes climbing out after him, dashed to a nearby alley. He headed toward the shipyard, in the most circuitous route he thought he could get away with. Celes soon joined him, sprinting in the same direction.

As Han ran, he was forcefully reminded of the first time his parents had died. It had been a similar story to what just happened. Inquisitors had found them and Marcus had thrown himself in front of them. Celes had managed to get him out the window before she was shot as well.

It may be too late for his dad, but he would not let his mother die again.

They heard the footfalls behind them just as the ship they’d arrived on came into view. They ran up the entrance and past a surprised Obi-Wan, who nevertheless hurried to the cockpit to take off.

Han automatically slid into the copilot’s seat to help. This ship allowed for pilots to shoot weapons, but had an extra console devoted solely to that which Celes slid into.

She didn’t get much of a chance to shoot however, as the ship was rocketing into space before she knew it.  
-

Obi-Wan turned in his chair to face Celes and Han.

“There’s only one reason I can see for someone to attack your family.”

“The dream.” Celes added. Han felt a sinking feeling as he realized Dad had died because he tried to change things. He’d only just been getting used to having him around again. He’d already been making plans to save him from- what happened.

“But who could have known about the dream?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I’ve got a few ideas,” Celes said, in a flinty tone.

“Ms. Solo, I understand your anger-”

“Do you? Was your husband just murder-” She broke off on a sob. Han climbed up into her lap, trying to find a way to offer her comfort. She pulled him close as she cried, and Han let himself give in to the pain of everything he’d lost over the last few days. Obi-Wan politely left them to their sorrow.

-

When they were done, Obi-Wan came back into the cockpit.

“We need to figure out who would do something like this,” Celes greeted him with.

“The only people who would do this would be people who don’t want us to stop them from attacking. Whoever attacked the Jedi in Han’s dream- they found out somehow.”

“The only people who knew were us, Anakin, and the Council members,” Han said, frustrated the Force wouldn’t allow him to tell them the truth. For all that it was famed not to personally influence things, the Force sure seemed to be personally invested in this.

“Anakin would never, and I was with Han and Marcus the whole time we were on Coruscant.”

“That rules you out, but it could still be the Council or Anakin.” Celes said. “Look, I know you don’t want to believe that of them, but isn’t there a possibility it got out somehow?”

“Maybe they didn’t do it. But they told someone they thought they could trust,” Han said. He knew that at this point Anakin didn’t mean any harm. But clearly he had done so. But they needed to convince Obi-Wan of the possibility.

“That certainly is possible.” Obi-Wan mused. “However, that greatly widens our suspect list.”

“I don’t care who did it. All I want is for my son to be safe.” Celes said.

“Well, then, perhaps we shouldn’t head back to Coruscant. It is clearly where at least one of the perpetrators of this act are.”

“Nah, that’d be suspicious,” Han said, leaning forward. “We’ve gotta go to Coruscant, but we need to get off it as soon as possible.

“I've got savings.” Celes said. “I can take them out and we can get transportation somewhere.”

“We should stop somewhere else to get the money. Otherwise they'll know we're leaving from Coruscant. They can make inquiries and find us.” Han said. Mom gave him a weird look.

“Good point. They probably won't find us given how large Coruscant is, but we shouldn't risk it.”

“Certainly.” Obi-Wan said. “There are many planets we could stop on in the system we’re headed for. From there we'll head to Coruscant. I'll explain the delay as time spent fixing the ship."

-

When they finally arrived on Coruscant, Celes and Han said thank you to Obi-Wan and made their way down to the lower parts of the city, searching for a ship to board. Celes held the bag with their savings tightly at first, but soon relaxed into a posture that implied nothing important was in their bag.

They spent hours at the shipyards, trying to find someone to take them somewhere. Finally Han thought he saw a likely one. He jogged up to the woman and grinned impishly.

“Hiya, ma’am.” He began. She snorted.

“Ya sound like you've never called someone ma'am before.”

“No! I called my last captain ma'am.”

“And you reckon I'll be you new captain? Nah. I'm not the taking in urchins type.”

“You won't be taking us in. We can pay for passage, and we're real hard workers. Plus I've been on a ship before, practically running the thing.”

“Pay huh?” She said. “How many of you little ‘uns are there?”

“Just me and my mom. Picked her up after I saved up enough for her passage.”

“Alright, kid. Go get your mom. Passage is 2500 credits each. Plus working on the ship. You laze about you're gone.”

“Yes ma'am!” Han said, hand automatically going into a lazy salute.

He dashed off to find Celes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to make these chapters longer, but they do not seem to agree with me. Next more Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Han excels at his 'new' career.

Work on the ship was hard but not anything he wasn’t used to, and it was much easier as a little kid than an old man. He helped Mom out a lot, showing her things he’d picked up over the years and claiming he’d see someone else on the ship do it.

“Hey, boy!” Captain Jia called out. Han scurried up to meet her.

“Yer little enough.” She said.

“For what?”

“We need you to crawl in behind the heater, and fix it. Gorie’ll tell you how.” Han already knew how, but he knew he couldn’t say that.

“Yeah, ma’am.” He followed her up to the heater, where Gorie was waiting. She quickly explained to Han how to repair the heater and Han crawled into the small open space.

It was a tight fit, even for a seven year old body, so Han decided to use a trick he’d discovered a while back. He focused in and nudged the broken nodule with the Force. It was… a lot harder than it used to be, but still possible. He knocked it out of place, then used his hands to replace it. With how hard just knocking the nodule to the ground was, he didn’t think he’d be able to replace it using the Force.

When he crawled back out, he greeted Jia and Gorie with a grin, handing them the broken nodule and walking back to his hammock.

His mom greeted him there and fussed over him.

“I wish you hadn’t told Captain Jia that you knew these things. It means much harder work for you.”

“It’s okay, Mom. And they wouldn’t have let us on if we didn’t know anything. We needed a way off Coruscant, and we got it.”

“Oh, I’m so proud of you. Your father would have been too. So quick thinking.” Han gave a weak grin at the comment, the loss and his part in it still fresh on his mind.

“I contacted Obi-Wan today. He said the search for us continues. They’ve told the public that I kidnapped you, but they don’t have very good pictures of us, luckily.”

“That’s good, but maybe we should change how we look.” Han said, thinking.

“I’m already planning to pick up some hair dye at our next stop, and you should get a haircut.” She mussed up his hair affectionately. Han grinned and nodded.  
-

No one made any comments about the new hairstyles. Too many of them had been on the run before to have any questions about it. As long as they did their work, everything would be fine.

Celes was worried about her son. He’d been different since the dream, not that she hadn’t expected that, especially after Marcus had died only days later, but this seemed so extreme.

Finally she cornered her son in a rarely used storage room demanded he talk to her. He sighed and fought it, but finally he looked up to her and said something she couldn’t believe.

“I’m from the future.” As soon as the words came out of his lips he looked just as surprised as she felt. “I thought the Force wanted that to be a secret or whatever,” He muttered. Celes was even more surprised when a man appeared near them, glowing blue and transparent. He chuckled.

“Evidently, it has decided that is no longer important. Congratulations, Han. You’re no longer alone.”

“Excuse me, are you saying you’re from the future?” Celes demanded. “How can that be? You still look seven years old.”

“But I’m not,” Han said, sounding more gentle than Celes had ever imagined he could.

“I don’t believe you.” Celes said. Han sighed.

“I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but use the Force, Mom. It can tell you I’m not lying.”

Celes was unwilling to believe him, but she also didn’t know what else could be causing this seeming delusion. She closed her eyes and focused. She could tell somehow, that it didn’t feel like Han was being dishonest. As she focused harder, she saw flashes of what she imagined to be Han’s life- if he was telling the truth. Him hugging a man in an orange flight suit and a woman in white, him arguing with said woman in a dimly lit corridor, him playing with a small child... 

She pulled back, trying not to cry. How much of her son’s life had she now lost? How much had he lost when he had come back in time?

“What happened?” She asked.

“I don’t know. This guy-”

“Qui-Gon Jinn, actually-” The man introduced himself. 

“Yeah. Qui-Gon here said the Force does this sometimes. Not often obviously.” Han suddenly turned, panicked, as if he had just realized something. “Hey, what happened to- everyone else? Are they just- gone?”

“No.” Qui-Gon said gently. “The universe has split in two. They still exist, but in another universe, one that we can never reach.”

Celes wasn’t sure if that reassured Han or made him feel worse. Regardless, he continued on.

“I don’t know exactly what happened. One moment I was- dying. The next I woke up in my bedroom.”

“So that dream- it’s what actually happened?”

“Yeah. Three years from now.”

“So it’s all still going to happen?”

“I tried to warn them. You saw how that ended.” Han hung his head, and Celes was confused for a minute before she realized why he was doing that.

“Honey, it’s not your fault.” She pulled him in for a hug.

“Mom! I’m fifty-nine, I don’t need you to do this.” Celes shook her head firmly.

“Doesn’t matter. I’m doing this no matter how old you get.” She hugged him for a minute longer before coming to a realization.

“Fifty-nine. That’s not a natural death, I don’t imagine.” Han sighed.

“No. There was a war. I was killed.” He stopped for a long moment. “By my son.” Celes’ eyes went wide.

“Oh, Han. I’m so sorry.”

“I’m the one who’s sorry. He never should have ended up in… that place.” Han spat out the last two words, and Celes got the strange feeling he wasn’t talking about a location, but a state of mind.

“What happened? If you don’t mind talking about it.”

“He was a Force user. My wife, Leia, she could tell this guy-” Celes could tell that wasn’t the word he wanted to use. “Snoke, was manipulating him, turning him to the Dark Side. We sent him away to the new Jedi, hoping that would help. It didn’t.”

Celes smiled at the mention of a wife. She was glad her son had found that kind of happiness in his life. Then she frowned as his story went on. She couldn't imagine the pain of sending your son away for his protection, only to find that he hadn't been protected after all.

“I'm sorry Han. I wish…”

“Hey, well, a new chance, huh?” He chuckled, but Celes could see the mourning in it.

“It's okay to grieve them. Even if you see them again here, it won't be the same, and it's okay to be sad about that. Hell, I'd be desolate if I had to leave my whole life behind.” She opened her arms to him again, and this time he willingly accepted the comfort.

“I had just made things right with Leia again, and then I just left her. And who knows of we’ll even have a shot in this timeline. And poor Ben. I never got to help him.”

“Shh, I know.” Celes didn't know what else to say, she could hardly say it would all be alright, because though time may heal all wounds, Han would never get his old life back again.

After a long time, they separated. Celes walked Han back to their hammocks, absorbing all the new information. Her son was actually a fifty nine year old man from the future, who had lived out his whole life now. And lived it without her. She picked up on what Han hadn't said. If his ‘dream’ happened in three years, she died when he was ten.

Well, regardless of what else changed, she resolved to change that. Not for herself, but because she refused to leave her son alone again, even if he was all grown.

“Hey, wait a minute.” She suddenly realized something. “Oh that's so weird. You're older than me!” Han laughed loudly, a welcome change from the solemn silence of before.


End file.
